Videos: whetstone sharpening

Video Manual 'Knife sharpening on a water stone'

At this moment all video's have subtitles in dutch. We will work on the English subtitles as quickly as possible. Come back soon in order to see all videos completed with English subtitles.

Short movie

In this short movie the sharpening of a knife on a sharpening stone is demonstrated from the beginning till the end.
See the movies below for more detailed instructions.

Coarse grinding - The theory

During the first (coarse) grinding stage the edge of the knife is grinded into the right shape (a V-shape). This step is the most important step since when it is not performed well the fine grinding will have no effect or will at least take very long.

Coarse grinding - Practice

For the shaping of the edge a 400 grid sharpening stone is used. It is possible to use coarser stones but since the knife is only slightly worn, a 400 stone will do fine.

Important: Do not procede to the next grinding stage until a perfect V-shape has been created.

Fine grinding with a 800 and 2000 grid stone

After the coarse grinding the edge is grinded on TWO finer grid stones, grid 800 and 2000.
After the grinding on the 800 grid stone, the knife can be used but the sharpness will be better and longer lasting when finer stones are used.

Polishing on a 5000 grid sharpening stone

In fact the polishing is the same as very fine grinding. With a 5000 grid stone the fine scratches produced by the ealier grinding are removed. After the polishing on the edge begins to look like a mirror and the knife will be so sharp that it can shave hair from your arms.

Fine polishing on a 10000 grid sharpening stone

To make your knife even sharper and make it stay sharp even longer you can further polish it on a 10000 grid stone like the Naniwa Chosera 10000 stone used in this movie.

Sharpening without scratches

Do you wnat to be sure to prevent scratches on the lemet while sharpening, then use this sharpening technic. This specific technic will take some extra time and concentration, but the result is marvelous!

Finding the correct angle

Finding the correct angle is not difficult: you can feel it. If the knife slides over the stone the corner is too small. Unless you want to thin out your knife: for this we will make a video later. Slowly make the angle bigger, until the knife starts to bite a little in the stone.